A christmas wonder

         Twinkling lights reflected in his eyes. Bobby suspected that whenever there was a starless night at home, this was where they had gone to; there were so many. It was magical and mystifying here, like nothing he had ever seen before. He looked down at the ground around him; it was covered in a crystal-colored white. He reached down to pick up the fluffy white powder. It sifted through the cracks between his fingers and was cold to the touch. Bobby had never witnessed anything like this before in Texas; he giggled with delight. He threw himself down on the ground and began to move his arms and legs up and down. When he got up, he was delighted to see that he created an angel on the ground.

         Suddenly, Bobby heard a sound in the distance. It sounded like...people singing. He climbed to the nearest hill and looked out on the horizon and saw bright, glowing lights. He started to run down the hill, but slipped and fell. He snow mound on the other side acted as gigantic slide and he giggled, coasting closer and closer to the town. Finally, he had reached his destination. He stood up and looked around. In the center of the town was a gigantic tree, all decorated with lights and strings. There were footprints all over the ground, but Bobby did not see anyone. It was then that he noticed the smell. It was a very sweet smell and, as it wafted through the air, it made Bobby's mouth water. He decided to walk towards the smell and find the source of the aroma.

         Finally, he came upon a house. As he peered through an open window, he found the source of the delectable smell. On the countertop was a three-tiered chocolate cake and cookies that had just come out of the oven. He imagined how delicious the pastries would taste and suddenly heard his stomach growl.

         "Don't they look delicious?" Bobby turned around to find an old woman smiling at me. She had hair the color of the ground below him, glasses, and a long brown coat on. He looked down at the ground and could feel his face getting red with embarrassment of being caught.

         "Don't be embarrassed honey. Would you like to have one? I made them."

         Bobby looked back up at her and nodded.

         "I thought so. I'll tell you what, you help me take the rest of these over to the factory, and I'll let you have one."

         Bobby smiled and nodded, then walked into the house with the woman. She put the cookies onto a gigantic tray and handed it to him. She gathered the cake into her hands and together, she and Bobby walked out the door. As they passed several different stores, Bobby couldn't help but notice how strange this town was. This place was like a child's paradise: there were playgrounds, candy stores, and toy stores. There were so many toy stores.

         Finally, the old woman stopped in front of a gigantic toy store. She pushed the door open and signaled for the boy to go ahead in front of her. When he walked in, he almost dropped the tray of cookies because of his surprise. There was another gigantic tree in the center of the building, its lights shimmering with pride. There was a sign next to the tree with an arrow pointing to the left and right. To the right the sign read "work"; to the left the sign read "play". The old woman went to the left, and the boy followed her down the hall. The hallway was filled with twinkling lights; they passed a room on the left. The boy glanced over just in time to notice the room looked like a giant forest. There where tons of stuffed animal monkeys hanging from the trees, and below there were toy hippos, lions, and giraffes, among tons of other animals. He stopped for a second.

         "Can we go in there really quickly, please?" The woman seemed surprised to hear the Bobby speak, and after a moment her warm smile returned and she responded, "Of course darling". Bobby walked into the room and realized that the tree in front of him took up just a small part of the room. It seemed to stretch for miles and miles, all of it filled with stuffed animals. He looked up and noticed a toy koala hanging by itself from the trees. It seemed to smile at him, which he returned the smile back.

         "I'll tell you what Robert, since you've been such a big help, why don't you pick one out for yourself", said the woman. He looked at her, unsure of if he was allowed, until she smiled again and took the koala down from the tree. "I think this one is a good pick for you, yes?"

         Bobby grinned and took the bear from the woman, set the tray down, and gave her a big hug. "Thank you!" He thought for a moment and then asked, "How do you know my name?" The woman only smiled and turned to face the door. "Hurry, we don't want to be late" The boy nodded, picked up the tray and the bear and followed her further down the hall. On the way they passed a few other unique rooms: there was a gigantic nursery room that was filled with baby dolls, a room with tons of toy tools, and even a room with a gigantic dirt mound and various toy trucks. Bobby thought this was the best toy store he had ever seen.

         Finally, the hallway emptied into a gigantic room with gigantic machines and computers. There was a single round table with food on it in the center of the room. There were no people in the room however. "How strange", thought Bobby. He helped the woman set the food on the table. She then stepped away and yelled, "Goodies are here! Come and get it!"

         Suddenly the room filled with hundreds of people. They were so small, but there were tons of them. They flooded the table and began happily grabbing at the food, a few of them turned and smiled at Bobby and the old woman. Bobby smiled back and stared at them in wonder.

         A few moments later, Bobby heard the sound of boots coming up behind them. He turned around to face a very tall, round, jolly man with a red suit and beard smiling down at him.

         "Hello Robert. I see that you've met my wife and my workers. How do you like my toy shop? I see that you got a toy."

         Bobby looked at him, then at the toy and squeezed it to his chest. "It's wonderful, sir. Thank you for the toy." The man smiled at him, then looked at his watch.

         "Oh my, it's getting late. How about we get you home?"

         Bobby looked up at him and nodded. He turned and waved goodbye to all of the workers, then ran over and hugged the old woman goodbye. Bobby then turned and followed the man down the hallway, past all the rooms to the gigantic tree. They then continued down the other hallway that was labeled "work". This hallway wasn't as long as the other one, but the hallway was lined with stables. Bobby noticed there were no animals in the hallway, but each stable had buckets of water and food in them. The hallway emptied into a gigantic room and, once again, Bobby was amazed. In the center of the room was a gigantic boat-like object, and tied to it were eight deer with bells. There was a ladder leading up to the object, and it became clear to Bobby that they were going to ride in this object. He climbed in after the old man and looked behind him to find a gigantic bag filled with toys that he had seen in the various rooms.

Suddenly, the door in front of them sprang open to reveal a gigantic runway. The old man looked at the boy and smiled, then turned back to the animals and said, "Ready? Let's do this!" The deer began to run out the door, and slowly the carriage the boy and man were in began to move. The boy noticed that they were nearing the edge of the runway, but there was no sign of stopping. He leaned over and hid under the man's arm, afraid to watch; surely, they would fall. The man laughed, and after a moment, the boy peeked out from behind the man's arm. They were flying! He watched with glee as they soared high up into the sky, up to the brightest star in the sky. As they approached, it got brighter and brighter, until suddenly everything turned white.

Bobby was suddenly in his room much to his disappointment. He thought to himself that it was just a dream. He heard someone come into the room, but didn't turn to look. He heard the person say "Merry Christmas Bobby". They kissed him on the cheek, and then he heard the footsteps leading outside of the room. When he heard the door close, he got up and looked out the window. He saw white on the ground that besides television, he had only seen up close once before, he had heard it called "snow". This was the first time that Bobby had ever seen snow outside; it never snowed where he lived. Smiling, he walked back towards his bed. He felt something beneath his foot. He looked down and picked up the koala that was smiling back at him. He would remember that night for the rest of his life.

         









#1625 words